Case study investigation of a videoconferencing experiment in primary schools, teaching modern foreign languages

Videoconferencing and the networked provision of language programs in regional and rural schools

“…This establishes the importance of the classroom teacher as an active manager of the lessons. LT1 and P1 both believed strongly that the rapport and respect derived from the initial visit of their 'television language presenters' greatly enhances student engagement and increases their subsequent interest and engagement in language learning; a view supported by Pritchard et al's (2010) research. Indeed the active positioning of the classroom teacher was deemed critical, where a kind of division of labour between the act of language learning and the act of classroom management was encouraged, an important distinction for the both the language teacher and the classroom teacher.…”

“…The remote students joined in with the central school through videoconferencing, taking language classes at the same time as the face to face students. The UK component of the project took a different form in that language classes were provided by one secondary school teacher seated in front of a desk-based computer, simultaneously teaching classes to two remote primary schools (Pritchard et al 2010). Although this research provides valuable findings and insights, there remains a dearth of research, especially in a non-European context, into the use of videoconferencing for language teaching at the primary level, and in particular on what happens in domestically located and self-organized virtual networks, as occurs in our case, and also potentially elsewhere; a gap this research seeks to address.…”

“…Overall the two teaching patterns of the two Australian networks explore here appear closest in nature to the two videoconferencing models used in the European MustLearnIT project (cf. Luoto 2007 andPritchard et al 2010). However, a direct comparison of results is difficult, given critical differences in contexts, for example, local versus supralocal organization and management, as well as in research foci.…”

Native English-speaking teachers' perspectives on using videoconferencing in learning English by Taiwanese elementary-School students

“…Furthermore, due to the nature of distant interaction via videoconferencing, limited access to students' actual activity brought a sense of uncertainty that learners were on the same page as the teachers (Guichon, 2010). Finally, according to Pritchard, Hunt, and Barnes (2010), teachers who were involved in the videoconferencing project in a uk primary school acknowledged that videoconferencing activities resulted in an improvement in their students' foreign-language learning. Minor technical difficulties sometimes occurred, but could be solved by technically adept teachers.…”

MOOC som studievalgsvejledning, læringsobjekt og redskab i markedsføring

“…Et amerikansk eksempel fra Andover, Massachusetts, beskriver, hvordan tre MOOCs fra EdX--platformen har vaeret brugt til at udbyde undervisning i graesk mytologi, jura og biologi på højt niveau (Jackson, 2013). Ideen med at supplere undervisning via netbaseret laering har vaeret praktiseret laenge før, MOOCs kom i vaelten (fx Lawson & Comber, 2010;Pritchard, Hunt & Barnes, 2010). Ikke--formaliseret supplement til undervisningen hører med til billedet.…”